Blessed Are Those Who Grieve
by GoldenManekiNeko
Summary: Takes place between the original Veggietales and Veggietales in The House. Larry struggles with grief when Mr. Nezzer suddenly passes. R.I.P. Angry Grandpa.


Larry The Cucumber somberly sat on the fleshy-pink couch in the darkened living-room of the house that he shared with his best friend, Bob The Tomato. His eyes were red and puffy from crying all week long, his lips formed a trembling frown and the residue of dried tears stained his evergreen cheeks. Larry's autumn eyes once again became glossy with tears that were threatening to spill over at any, given, moment as he rewatched the unedited end of the last Veggietales episode.

"Larry, there's something I need to tell you..." Bob began just before the tape had ended. A quiet sob escaped from Larry's lungs as fresh tears had begun to cascade down his hard, shiny cheeks. Shortly after Bob had uttered those words, Larry heard the saddest, most, heartbreaking news he had ever heard in his entire life. Larry got up from the couch and hopped over to the Television to eject to rough draft of their last episode before putting in another tape. Larry slumped back down into the couch to intently watch the next tape since this was something he desperately needed to see again to remind himself that he was not just trapped within the torturess thrawls of some, horrific, unending nightmare.

"Hey kids, I'm Bob The Tomato..." Bob sighed, on the verge of tears as his equally-tearful, best friend stood next to him.

"And I'm Larry The Cucumber..." Larry's voice cracked as he struggled to hold back his own tears.

"I never wanted to make a video like this...I never thought I would have to make a video like this but me and Larry have some very, unfortunate news to share...On September twenty-six, two, thousand, seventeen, at four-o-clock, P.M. we lost Mr. Nezzer..." Bob solemnly admitted to the camera. He and Larry both began to uncontrollably cry the very second that Bob had finished relaying the devastating news.

"H-He had a mold spore on his back but by the time he noticed it, it was too late...The mold had spread too far and too deep for the doctors to be able to remove it..." Bob continued between sobs.

"I miss him!" Larry sobbed since this was truly the first death he had ever experienced.

"We all miss him very much but he's with The Lord now and he's not suffering anymore...He was in so much pain..." Bob sniffled at the memory of how sick Mr. Nezzer appeared when he was in the hospital.

"I'm just so thankful that he's not in pain anymore...Larry and I need some time off but we will continue the show, even if it will be hard without Mr. Nezzer here with us...Remember, kids: God made you special..." Bob gave a weak smile as he spouted his usual catchphrase.

"A-And He loves you very much..." Larry whimpered before the tape ended. Larry turned off the T.V. before laying down on the couch to burry his face into a pillow that muffled his sobs perfectly.

"Larry?" Bob questioned once he had returned from running his errands to enter his darkened home. Once he turned on the lights, he frowned in sympathy at the sight of his best friend once again crying softly to himself.

"Were you watching those old tapes again? I told you not to do that..." Bob sighed as he approached the couch to comfort his friend. He hated seeing his normally, happy-go-lucky, best friend in such a state of despair like this. Bob let out another sigh when Larry had once again neglected to respond to him before placing a nicely-wrapped, Easter-Basket on the couch, next to his sobbing friend.

"Here, Petunia made you an Easter-Basket..." Bob offered in an attempt to cheer Larry up. A smile spread over the tomato's red, shiny lips when Larry had somberly sat up to accept the holiday gift. Bob knew that Larry would not be able to resist candy, no matter how sad he was. The first thing Larry pulled out of his Easter basket was a chocolate bunny. This instantly reminded him of Mr. Nezzer and caused him to once again burst into tears, almost instantly upon viewing the holiday treat.

Bob frowned once again when Larry had completely abandoned the basket of delicious candy to begin sobbing into their couch's navy-blue throw-pillow yet again. This was more serious than Bob had initially thought if Larry were going to refuse chocolate.

"Ya know? Mr. Nezzer's grandson, Ikabeezer inherited his mansion next door. Think it might make ya feel better to welcome him into the neighborhood?" Bob offered once again in yet another attempt to cheer up his grieving, best friend.

"Mr. Nezzer has a grandson?! Why didn't ya say so!" Larry beamed, immediately perking back up. He then quickly rushed outside to greet his deceased friend's grandson as he desperately hoped that Ikabeezer would help him fill the void that Mr. Nezzer had left in his life. Mr. Nezzer's elderly grandson, Ikabeezer let out a somber sigh as he slowly began to unpack his boxes. Ikabeezer had always wanted to live in his grandfather's mansion but not at the cost of losing his grandfather.

The mere thought of how his beloved grandfather had left him this mansion because he knew how much he loved it was enough to break poor Ikabeezer's heart as his eyes became glossy with fresh tears. Ikabeezer's mournful train of thought was then interrupted by a pair of large, autumn eyes that were now inches away from his own. This of course caused the older zucchini to jump back with a cry of surprise before he could even have time to register that a young cucumber was now standing in his living-room.

"Hiya, neighbor! I'm Larry The Cucumber! I live next door to you!" Larry greeted his new neighbor happily yet at the same time, awkwardly.

"How did you get in my house?" Was all Ikabeezer had to say in response, followed by a suspicious glare that was directed at his new neighbor.

"Here! Let me help you unpack!" Larry eagerly offered, ignoring Ikabeezer's previous question. He desperately wanted his secret replacement for Mr. Nezzer to like him so he quickly ran over to the larger boxes to help the elderly Zucchini unpack.

"Uh...Hey, wait! Be careful with that!" Ikabeezer cried out when Larry had decided to start with his golfing trophy that was much, too large for the poor, small cucumber to carry. Ikabeezer then flinched hard when Larry had inevitably dropped the trophy, causing it to shatter on the hard, white, tile floor of the mansion.

"Uh...I can fix this..." Larry then gulped with a nervous smile.

"No! I want you out! I wancha outta my house, away from my stuff and offa my lawn!" The elderly Zucchini shouted harshly at the poor, young, grieving cucumber.

"Uh..." Ikabeezer instantly began to feel his conscience begin to fill with regret at the sight of Larry's current, facial expression. Larry's large, autumn eyes had begun to gloss over with tears as a few whimpers had escaped from his quivering lips. The last, living veggie he had left to remind him of Mr. Nezzer hated him; now, he truly had lost his beloved neighbor for good.

"Look kid, I..." Ikabeezer began when Larry had abruptly hopped away from him, in tears of hysterics. Ikabeezer let out a small sigh of remorse before beginning to hop after the sobbing cucumber. It did not take long for Ikabeezer to find Larry hiding behind one of the counter's various, large, ceramic, spice jars as the cucumber cried softly to himself.

"Larry..." Ikabeezer began which of course startled poor Larry into gasping softly.

"It's alright, I won't yell atcha again...I didn't mean to upsetcha this much; I've just...been through a lot lately...I did just lose my grandfather, after all..." Ikabeezer sighed before taking a seat next to Larry.

"Mr. Nezzer was just my neighbor but he was like a grandfather to me too..." Larry sniffled softly. Now, Ikabeezer felt even worse for yelling at his new neighbor.

"You were probably just tryin' to bond with me to fill the void, huh?" Ikabeezer inquired, earning a somber nod from Larry in response.

"Ya shouldn't let me be the one to fill your void, kid; I'm nothin' at all like my grandfather...There's no way I could possibly be enough to fill your void but there is one person who can...The Lord..." Ikabeezer smiled softly before glancing back over at Larry.

"I-I know that but it still hurts so much..." Larry glanced back up at Ikabeezer sadly.

"I know it does, it's gonna hurt for a really, long time but when it does hurt, you can turn to The Lord for comfort...After all, blessed are those who grieve..." Ikabeezer reminded.

"You're right! It hurts now but with The Lord, I can get through this!" Larry enthusiastically agreed as he hopped back up from the ground.

"Amen to that!" Ikabeezer grinned before standing back up as well.

"Hey, Larry? I'm goin' to a new, Bible Study tonight; would ya care to join me?" Ikabeezer remembered to offer before he could fully walk away.

"No foolin'?! I'd love to!" Larry excitedly agreed as he wiped his tears away before happily following Ikabeezer back to his house. While the pain of losing Mr. Nezzer had not fully gone away, Larry was now filled with a newfound sense of hope, God's hope.


End file.
